Seventy members of banned Brotherhood arrested in Cairo

Cairo: Egyptian police arrested 70 more senior members and potential election candidates from the banned Muslim Brotherhood in the latest crackdown on the country's largest opposition movement on Wednesday, the group and a security official said.

Security forces stormed the homes of senior Brotherhood members at dawn in five Egyptian provinces, including Cairo, a security official said.

The detained were arrested on charges of joining a banned group in an attempt to revive its activities, the official said.

The Brotherhood, which posted the names of the 70 detained on its Web site, said the arrests meant to prevent the group from running the city council elections on April 4.

"These are political detentions aimed at influencing the group's decision to participate in the elections," senior Brotherhood member Essam Al Erian.

Wednesday's arrests bring to over 600 the number of Muslim Brotherhood members detained since the beginning of the year.